Mary Wood begins her first season in her new role as associatehead coach and her sixth overall with the Gardner-Webb track &field program after spending four years as an assistant as well asone as the graduate assistant coach for the Gardner-Webb track& field teams. During the 2011-12 season, Wood coached Gardner-Webb to severalstandout performances during both the indoor and outdoor seasons.In the field, Wood saw Ann Marie Howell record a 2nd place finishwith a school record 3.75 m height in the pole vault at Big SouthIndoor Championships. Howell also picked up a school record (3.82m) during the outdoor season under Wood's watch. Wood also led Kristen Hurley to a conference championship in thepentathlon at Big South Indoor Championships, a landmark for GWU'snewly appointed Associate Head Coach. Hurley's 1st placeperformance marked the first time Wood had coached one of hermulti-event athletes to a conference championship. In all, Wood helped pioneer a squad that put up 12All-Conference performances in 2011-12. T'Keyah Bell (3rd, outdoor4x400 m), Terry Davis (3rd, outdoor Triple Jump), Sarah Herd (3rd,outdoor High Jump), Howell (1st, indoor Pole Vault; 2nd, outdoorPole Vault), Hurley (1st, Pentathlon; 2nd, Heptathlon), Katy Milton(3rd, outdoor 4x400 m), Johnathan Parks (2nd, indoor 60 m hurdles),Nichole Saxton (3rd, outdoor 4x400 m), and Bethany Wright (3rd,outdoor Pole Vault) all earned All-Big South honors during the2011-12 season. Wood was promoted from the graduate assistant to the assistantcoach in the fall of 2007. Wood works with the multi-events, sprinters, hurdlers and jumpsgroups. During the 2010-11 season, Wood saw both Carrie Long and AnnMarie Howell set the GWU school record in he women's pole vaultevent during the outdoor season as both turned in marks of 3.75meters (12'3"). On the men's side, senior sprinter and hurdler Johnathan Ruckerset a new GWU school record in the 110-meter hurdles with his timeof 14.39. GWU had 11 student-athletes earn all-conference honors at theindoor championships, as Long finished second in the women's polevault (3.60 meters), Rucker crossed the finish line in third-placeoverall in the 60-meter hurdles (8.09), junior Sarah Herd placedthird in the women's high jump (1.68 meters) and the 4x400 meterunit of T'Keyah Bell, Cherish Richardson, Amara Isbell and IvanaHughes placed second overall with their time of 3:56.02. At the 2011 Big South Outdoor Championships, Wood's watched asfreshman Katie Hurley, junior Ann Marie Howell, Rucker andsophomore Clint McManus all earned all-conference honors, while ahandful of others posted personal best marks in their respectiveevents. Hurley picked up all-conference honors with a third-place finishin the women's heptathlon event (4179 points), while Howell placedsecond in the pole vault event with a mark of 3.70 meters. Ruckertook second-place in the 110-meter hurdles (14.40) and McManusplaced second in the pole vault (4.60 meters). In 2009-10, Wood worked with juniors Evan Brusich and CarrieLong, who each earned all-conference honors at both the Big Southindoor and outdoor track & field championships. Brusichbroke the GWU school record in the men's heptathlon with 4780points at the indoor conference championships. Wood also helped senior hurdler Paul Steinke, who made it to the2010 NCAA East Regional meet, pick up a first-place finish andall-conference recognition in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of52.17, and freshman pole-vaulter Clint McManus pick upall-conference honors with his third-place at the outdoorconference championships. In 2008-09, Wood helped work with seniors Victoria Argus andKelly Bridges, who both were all-conference performers in both theindoor and outdoor track & field conferencechampionships. Bridges set a new school record in the women'spole vault event for outdoors, while Carrie Long set a new recordin the women's pole vault event for indoors. Wood also assisted men's pole-vaulter Adam Reed, who made it tothe NCAA East Regional meet, and Evan Brusich, who set a new GWUrecord in points in the men's decathlon. During her first season as an assistant in 2007-08, she guidedrookie Carrie Long to an Atlantic Sun Conference title, enablingLong to qualify for the NCAA East Region Championships where shefinished 10th. Long shattered the school record with her winningvault of 12'1.50" at the conference meet. Wood also assisted multi-sport conference champions VictoriaArgus, Evan Brusich and Elliott Haynie, while coaching a multitudeof all-conference performers. Wood, a graduate of Eastern Illinois, was a pole-vaulter duringher collegiate career with the Panthers. Upon finishing her eligibility, Wood held the school record inthe indoor pole vault and was the co-record holder in the outdoorpole vault. She was a three-time Ohio Valley Conference Indoor polevault champion. Wood was also the OVC indoor pole vault recordholder. She was a three-time OVC Outdoor pole vault runner-up atthe league meet.
Wood was a team captain for EIU. After completing her eligibility, Wood took a job withCharleston H.S. where she was the jumps coach until she acceptedthe position at GWU. For two years, she also worked with theLincoln Summer Track Club as an assistant coach. She has also coached a decathlete that was a USATF JuniorNational Qualifier and medalist. Wood currently resides in Shelby, N.C. | 